BRL-CAD
The facts below are what the maker publishes about BRL-CAD, checked and dated. Our editors have not written about it yet.
Plans and prices
From BRL-CAD's own pricing page, checked 11 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Free BRL-CAD distribution | Free | Free open source software · binary and source code distributions |
| Full-service support distribution | Priced on request | Commercial support · documentation · installation media · technical assistance by phone, fax, postal mail, or email |
The facts
Each one read from BRL-CAD's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- 3D print export
- Yeschecked 21 Sep 2026
- Animation tools
- Yeschecked 21 Sep 2026
- Conversion
- The feature page describes converting BRL-CAD geometry to a finite element mesh with its g-sat exporter and Sandia National Laboratories' Cubit.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Current release notice
- The homepage labels release 7.24.0, Archer Alpha, and describes the Archer/MGED interface update as alpha software seeking community feedback.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Distribution
- The free distribution is available in binary and source code form, with source also available through a Subversion repository.checked 11 Oct 2026
- File formats
- The documentation lists import converters for formats including DXF, IGES, NASTRAN, STL, and Unigraphics.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Intended use
- The about page describes use in military, academic, and industrial applications, including vehicles, mechanical parts, architecture, medical visualization, and radiation dose planning.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Modeling
- It supports CSG and B-REP geometry, including primitives, NURBS, n-Manifold Geometry, and faceted meshes, combined with boolean union, intersection, and difference operations.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Parametric modeling
- Yeschecked 21 Sep 2026
- Procedural modeling
- BRL-CAD provides an interface for creating models algorithmically instead of manually.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- BRL-CAD is an open source cross-platform solid modeling system with interactive geometry editing, ray tracing, a benchmark suite, and geometry libraries for application developers.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Ray tracing
- Ray tracing supports geometric analysis and image rendering, including calculations such as weights and moments of inertia.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Render engine
- built-inchecked 21 Sep 2026
- Security
- The opened maker pages describe OSI-approved open source licensing but do not state a security certification or compliance standard.checked 11 Oct 2026
- STEP support
- BRL-CAD's developer guide says the software can read and write STEP geometry files.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Support
- The documentation says all users can access symposia, workshops, a user's group, and mailing lists; the full-service distribution includes technical assistance.checked 11 Oct 2026
The company
- Founded
- 1979checked 28 Sep 2026
Money
- Free plan
- Yeschecked 21 Sep 2026
- License and cost
- BRL-CAD is distributed as free open source software under OSI-approved license terms.checked 11 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Platform access
- desktopchecked 21 Sep 2026
- Platforms
- The about page says BRL-CAD is maintained for BSD, Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X, and Windows environments.checked 11 Oct 2026
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